Saturday, October 31, 2009

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

I realize that it has been five whole weeks since my last update. My goodness, where has the time gone? Well...let me tell you.

1.) Carson and EliasThese two are growing and changing in so many ways. Carson has a new found love of reading and thinks heading off to the local library is a treat. His reading vocabulary has taken off exponentially and we are almost to the point of easy chapter books. Wow is all I can say. Elias is also expanding his presence by shooting up to incredible heights. I can't believe my itty bit is this tall at 4 years old. He writes his name and is starting to do simple word recognition for reading. His new braces still have not arrived due to United Health Care loosing the request for payment and Al and I not having an extra $2400 laying around to pay cash. I will post pics when the famous blue snake skin AFOs arrive.

2.) CookingI have become slightly obsessed with fall cooking over the past month. Pumpkin pancakes, Buckeye brownies, beef roast soup, pork loin with roasted vegetables, and more. The downside of my cooking is that I'm gaining a bit of weight but at least I'm happy!

3.) SchoolI have yet to officially talk about my new adventure on this blog aside from alluding to it in my last post so here goes. Last spring I began the process of applying to Graduate school at The Ohio State University to get my Masters degree with specialty in Neonatal Nurse Practitioner. My work awards a scholarship to NNPs and I applied on the recommendation of several NNPs on my unit. The process was long and included papers, nine interviews, and a lot of anxiety over the span of 4 months. At the end of July I was awarded this amazing opportunity. My employer is paying for all of my tuition and books for the two years of grad school. I also have an educational stipend to ensure that I can continue providing for our family and succeed in school. This entails me working 16 hours a week and receiving 36 hours a week of pay. I have to work my usual 36 hours when school is not in session (winter break and spring break). After completing my program and becoming a licensed, certified, and credentialed NNP (and getting my certificate to prescribe), I will have a two year commitment as an NNP on my unit. It is an amazing, once in a lifetime opportunity and I'm so blessed to have it.

School is exciting, stimulating, and exhausting. I am taking five grad courses this quarter and reading so much material my eyes feel like they are bleeding! Next quarter I only have two classes with one being the first in a series of three neonatal pathophysiology courses. I am learning so much and enjoying being back in school. The papers and reading are intense but so far I am balancing well. It's great to be a Buckeye. O-H-!

4.) The HubsAl's new job is working out wonderfully with our family life. His hours are flexible but stable. Seeing him walk out the door every morning dressed in a suit isn't so bad either. He is a marketing, sales, education, nursing machine and I couldn't be more proud of him.

So, as you can see, there are plenty of mentioned and unmentioned reasons for the poor blog not being updated in over a month. I promise we are all alive (barely) and living life. I have many posts up in my head to get on here but they will have to wait until the course work I have left this week is finished. Until then, happy fall!

Background info

Meet our two boys Carson and Elias. C was born at 30 wks and Elias at 25 wks. Follow us as we journey through life raising two premature boys. The roller coaster ride of the NICU hasn't stopped since we stepped out of those hospital doors but we learn, love, and laugh our way through it all. When I'm not chasing them or helping build construction sites out of tonka trucks, I also work as a NICU nurse in a level III NICU and am working on my Masters as a Neonatal Nurse Practitioner.